


Crushed It In the Surprise Department

by mousapelli



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Getting Together, M/M, Moving In Together, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-31
Updated: 2017-12-31
Packaged: 2019-02-26 16:42:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13239837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mousapelli/pseuds/mousapelli
Summary: Otabek has a habit of muttering to himself. Yuri has learned more Kazakh than he's exactly told Otabek.





	Crushed It In the Surprise Department

**Author's Note:**

> Written for SASO 2017, Free For All bonus round. Prompt was "Otabek tries "practicing" confessing to Yuri by telling him how he feel in Kazakh; Yuri has secretly been studying Kazakh to surprise Otabek. Emotions ensue."
> 
> I like the idea of these two idiots both trying to surprise each other and both failing. Also I straight up catch myself saying parts of conversations out loud when I'm rehearsing them like this.

Otabek does this thing. He practices conversations that he's going to have, not in his head, but out loud. He doesn't mean to do it, but he can't help it when it's something he's thinking about seriously. Otabek gets embarrassed when Yuri calls him out on it, but Yuri thinks it's cute.

The first time Yuri catches him at it, he's in the hotel bathroom gelling his hair when Yuri lets himself in by the adjoining door, and muttering to himself about jumps and his short program. Yuri doesn't mean to sneak up on him or eavesdrop, but the strange pauses in Otabek's speech make him raise his eyebrows, and then the whole thing seems to start over in the middle.

"What are you _doing?_ " Yuri finally demands, making Otabek jump with an undignified yelp. It turns out he's gearing up to challenge his coach about the order of his jumps, Otabek blushing and grumbling when Yuri snickers at him.

It happens more often once they start sharing the St. Petersburg apartment, although it's mostly when Otabek thinks he's alone. Yuri overhears him practicing to ask Yakov for different rink hours, confronting the landlord about the perpetually burnt out hall light, telling his mother that St. Petersburg might not be as temporary as he'd previously led her to believe. Sometimes Yuri surprises Otabek to tease him about it, but other times he goes away quietly, smiling to himself about how it's like Otabek thinks he can make the conversation go perfectly if he just practices enough.

So when Yuri comes home Victor and Yuuri's apartment, he isn't surprised to hear the murmur of Otabek's voice in Otabek's room. Wondering what Otabek is practicing for this time, Yuri slips off his sneakers and pads across the floor, avoiding the squeaky spot in the hallway. He's muttering in Kazakh, Yuri realizes when he presses his shoulder against the wall just to the side of Otabek's door. Maybe it's his mother again?

But then he hears his own name and starts listening in harder. His Kazakh is far from fluent, but after an entire summer of listening to Otabek on the phone with relatives or gossiping with his sisters and cousins on Skype, it's basic conversational, plus he's maybe been listening to some podcasts to try and improve. It's a secret, a surprise for Otabek that Yuri hasn't put entirely together yet.

But turns out Otabek is crushing him in the surprise department, because Yuri picks out "I want to stay here with you" and "more than this" and "be yours." Yuri's heart starts to race, but he tells it to shut up, this isn't what it seems like. Right?

"Beka?" Yuri asks, stepping out from his hiding stop. Otabek goes stiff like he's been shocked, and when he turns, his expression is pinched. "I heard my name."

"It's nothing," Otabek says quickly. "I was talking to myself."

"I heard more than that." Yuri scowls at Otabek's white lie. "Something you want to tell me?"

"I…you do?" Otabek's brow furrows. "Since when do you understand Kazakh?"

"Since you've been living here all summer, muttering it," Yuri retorts. Otabek's stare remains even, waiting. "Fine, I've been doing listening practice during my commute. Don't change the subject. You only practice like that when it's serious. You want to stay? Past summer?"

"…Yes," Otabek says. "I've been thinking about it. But I wasn't ready to ask you what you thought."

"Because this isn't enough?" Otabek nods, looking even guiltier. Yuri feels lost, and nervous, and he doesn't like either much. "Just _tell_ me!"

Otabek takes a deep breath. "I don't want to be your friend," Otabek says, and even though Yuri thinks he knows where this is going, the sound of those words makes the bottom of his stomach drop out. "Shit," Otabek curses at the look on his face. "That sounded better in Kazakh. I mean I want more than that, from you. With you. I don't know if you want that too, and if you don't then I'm not sure I can stay here, so close to—"

Yuri can't take another word. He throws himself at Otabek, arms around his neck and face pressed against his shoulder. " _Yes_. Yes, you idiot. Stay, don't…say that kind of stuff, just…stay."

He turns his head until they bump noses, breath catching when it turns into a kiss. It's awkward, Yuri clinging too tightly to fix the angle, panic still crawling up his throat. Otabek pulls his mouth away and kisses Yuri's cheek instead, his jaw, his forehead. His hands are digging into the small of Yuri's back, and Yuri realizes distantly that they're big enough to span more than half of his waist and for some reason that makes him blush furiously.

Otabek chuckles. "You really were trying to learn? You could have just asked me."

"Surprise, asshole," Yuri grumbles into Otabek's neck, which only makes him laugh harder.


End file.
